TONIGHT’S GAME:The Rangers will face-off against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome (9:30 p.m.), in the second game of their four-game road trip through Western Canada. The Blueshirts enter the contest having defeated the Vancouver Canucks, 4-0, on Tuesday at Rogers Arena for their first win of the season, and are now 1-1-2 (4 pts) through four games. The win was New York’s first in Vancouver since Oct. 11, 1997 (6-3). The Flames enter the contest with a 2-3-0 (4 pts) record, having defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, on Tuesday at home. Following the contest, the Rangers will face-off against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Rexall Place (10:00 p.m.), before closing out their four-game Western Canada road trip against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, Oct. 24, at MTS Centre (8:30 p.m.).

· Last Season: New York was 1-0-0 overall, having won their only meeting, 2-1, on Nov. 22 at Madison Square Garden. Martin Biron made 31 saves in net and Dan Girardi tallied two points (one goal, one assist), including the game-winning goal.

· New York ranks 10th with a 1-1-2 (4 pts) record on the road; Calgary is tied for 17th with a 1-1-0 (2 pts) mark at home

· The Rangers have posted a 1-0-0 record vs. Northwest Division opponents; the Flames are 0-1-0 vs. the Atlantic Division

· Henrik Lundqvist has posted a 1-2-0 record with a 3.02 GAA in three career regular season contests vs. Calgary; Martin Biron is 4-3-0-0 with a 2.23 GAA in eight career regular season games vs. the Flames

· Marian Gaborik leads the Rangers with 13 goals, 22 assists and 35 points in 42 career regular season contests vs. Calgary; Brad Richards has tallied 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 16 games vs. the Flames, and Wojtek Wolski has recorded 17 assists and 24 points in 29 games against Calgary

· New York lists one former Flame on their roster: Brandon Prust (2006-07 – 2009-10)

· Calgary lists one former Ranger on their roster: Olli Jokinen (2009-10)

SPECIAL TEAMS:

Power Play: The Rangers did not tally a goal in four power play opportunities (4:29) on Tuesday at Vancouver, and are now 0-16 through four games. The Rangers are 0-1 (0:08) in five-on-three situations (last – 10/8 at ANA), and 0-1 (0:40) when four-on-three (last – 10/8 at ANA). Shorthanded goals allowed (0).

Penalty Killing: The Blueshirts held the Canucks scoreless in eight shorthanded situations (12:29) on Tuesday at Vancouver. New York ranks seventh overall (24-27, 88.9%) and 10th on the road (24-27, 88.9%). The Rangers are 2-2 (0:44) in three-on-five situations (last – 10/15 at NYI), and 0-1 (1:17) when three-on-four (last – 10/7 at LAK). Shorthanded goals for (0).

Four-on-Four: New York tallied one goal in three four-on-four situations (3:31) on Tuesday at Vancouver, and are now plus-one in 10 four-on-four situations (15:25). Four-on-four goals for (1): 10/18 at VAN (Gaborik). Four-on-four goals allowed (0).

ROAD WARRIORSThe Rangers’ seven-game road trip to begin the 2011-12 regular season is the longest to open a season in franchise history. The previous team record is five games away from Madison Square Garden to begin the season, in 1952-53 and 1953-54. The Blueshirts will open their home schedule on Oct. 27 vs. Toronto, their latest home opener since they opened the 1948-49 season on Oct. 27, 1948 (excluding the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season).

BACK-TO-BACKSThe Rangers completed their first of 14 back-to-back sets this season with a 2-1 shootout loss against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 8 at Ericsson Globe Arena. New York has posted a record of 0-0-1 (0-0-0 at home, 0-0-1 on the road) in the first game of the set, and are 0-0-1 (0-0-0 at home, 0-0-1 on the road) in the second game. Since 2009-10, New York is 21-8-3 in the back-end of back-to-back sets, including a 9-3-1 mark at MSG and 12-5-2 on the road over the span. The Rangers’ next back-to-back set is Nov. 5-6 vs. Montreal and Winnipeg, both games to be played at Madison Square Garden.

PUT ME IN, COACHHenrik Lundqvist turned aside all 40 shots faced in a 4-0 shutout on Tuesday at Vancouver, while making his 30th consecutive regular season start dating back to Feb. 11, 2011 at Atlanta. He has posted a record of 16-11-3 with a 2.22 goals against average, a .925 save percentage and five shutouts over the span. Including playoffs, Lundqvist has started each of the Rangers last 35 games.

WORKHORSEDefenseman Dan Girardi enters tonight’s contest leading the NHL in average ice time, logging 29:21 per contest. He has logged 30:00+ of ice time in two of the Rangers’ four games this season, including a season-high 31:25 of ice time on Oct. 8 against Anaheim in Stockholm, Sweden.

A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONBrad Richards has registered a point in each of his first four games as a Ranger to begin the season, and currently leads the team in scoring with four points. He enters tonight’s contest with a four-game scoring streak, tallying one goal and three assists over the span. In addition, Richards has also won 28 of 44 faceoff attempts to rank fourth in the NHL with a 63.6% faceoff winning percentage.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!Ryan Callahan notched the Rangers’ first goal of the season at 15:22 of the first period on Oct. 7 against the Kings, while making his debut as the team’s captain. He also led all skaters with a career-high, 11 shots and led all team forwards with 20:30 of ice time. Callahan’s 11 shots established a Rangers record for most shots in a season opener, and were the most by an NHL player in a season-opening game since Pavel Bure on Oct. 3, 1997 vs. Anaheim (11 shots). The last Ranger to register at least 11 shots in a game was Brendan Shanahan on Apr. 4, 2008 vs. the Islanders (12 shots).

NEW FACESThe Rangers had three players make their Rangers debut in the team’s season opener on Oct. 7 against the Kings – Tim Erixon (NHL debut), Brad Richards (one assist) and Mike Rupp. In addition, defenseman Jeff Woywitka made his Rangers debut on Saturday at Long Island.

MILESTONE GAMEForwards Brandon Prust and Mike Rupp both reached NHL milestones on Saturday at Long Island. Prust skated in his 200th career NHL game, while Rupp made his 500th career NHL appearance. Prust has registered 47 points (20 goals, 27 assists) and 461 penalty minutes with the Rangers, Calgary Flames and Phoenix Coyotes. The five-year NHL veteran has tallied 15% of his career points while shorthanded (five goals, two assists). Rupp has recorded 89 points (49 goals, 40 assists) and 661 penalty minutes in nine seasons with the Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Phoenix Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins.

GETTING STARTED:

· The Rangers have posted a record of 282-271-93 all-time in the month of October, including a 176-117-48 mark at home and a 106-154-45 record on the road. New York (1-1-2) is scheduled to play 10 games during the season’s opening month in 2011-12, with three games being contested at MSG and seven scheduled on the road.

· Legendary Rangers’ defenseman Brian Leetch holds the franchise record for most points in the month of October, having registered 43 goals and 130 assists for 173 career points in the season’s opening month.

· The Blueshirts’ all-time leader for most career wins in the month of October is Mike Richter, who registered 40 career wins during the season’s opening month. Henrik Lundqvist has recorded 34 career wins during the month of October.

· New York has posted two, seven-game winning streaks in the month of October, winning seven consecutive games during the season’s opening month in 2009-10 (Oct. 3 vs. Ottawa to Oct. 17 at Toronto) and 1988-89 (Oct. 16 vs. Vancouver to Oct. 30 vs. Pittsburgh).

COUNTDOWN TO 2,500 WINSThe Rangers are currently 15 wins shy of 2,500 wins, having won 2,485 games all-time in franchise history.

Good Morning all.
I watched the game last night and while the defense has holes, they are fairly quick to recover. They seem to bend farther than in recent years. +1

Vezina nominee performance! +2

Who is this guy wearing #19 and why is he teasing us with this rediculous display of skill. Kinda makes the other lines look bad (Bush League?). +1

really miss Staal. -3

Glimmers of hope and flashes of brilliance. Unfortunately, Penalties are keeping the team from reaching its stride. you can see them start to move their feet, start to build up steam… then the canadia-bias whistle-monster rears its ugly one sided face. and yes most of those penalties could have easily been non calls as well. I wonder what the team would look like if they just decided to dress 4 fewer players. Esentially that is what they are trying to compete with. -1

Wow, those were some goal scorers goals. Well placed, good movement and on target with something behind it. +1

Loved McMadman with and without the puck. +1

A slow start does not condemn them to fighting for the 8th spot. Half the fun for me is watching the team grow together and becoming something better. Clagary beware, THE New York Rangers are in town and have something to prove.

Thanks for the article LW. I honestly don’t understand why people are freaking out over someone being benched one period. This team obviously has a problem taking penalties, justified or not. It is very common for coaches to sit a player for taking a stupid penalty. Now I don’t love Torts, but I think he’s a decent coach. Let him do what he has to do.

manny
let me try and help you…so if torts is such a good and fair coach and he isn’t biased and he is the greatest possible coach, how does huginsky get a free pass while prust gets benched!! Totally bush league coaching, bylsma would do a far better job than torts with this team.

eric, this old man agrees with you…waiting any minute for Stall to be shut down for whole year some time soon this would be commensurate with other players having PCS pr PPCS not to be confused with PPT (plunge protection team) or even DDT for the 60s. This would coincide nicely with my theory that a top 5 pick should come the way of the young, able but undermanned Rangers team.

Look, I am a huge MZA fan. He became one of my favorite Rangers last year. I love the kid’s heart, skill, and work ethic. I am disappointed that he isn’t in the lineup. It’s ironic that the Rangers don’t need a highly skilled RW right wing right now….

HERE WE GO! I’ll follow: Matty, to do what exactly? Play 6 min per game on the fourth line? The difference between their contracts is about $1M. That, by the trading deadline, should amount to around $3M contract they can sign if need to.

ilb, I agree with you. I just miss the entertainment value Avery brought to the rivalry games. If the coach didn’t say Avery and Rains were competing for the same spot, I don’t think there would be as much to talk about. That is what forces all the comparisons.

ILB
the problem with that is avery and torts and politics and religion and avery and bin laden and avery and torts and gaddafi and concussions and pansification and avery and EC and torts and crosby and torts and sather and ben and jerrys and porta potties and religion and sather and torts and torts and avery and mulchers and david dubinsky and europansies and don cherry and torts and milbury and torts and avery and MZA and MDZ and Joe M and the mets are 5-12 and politics and torts and avery and dangerfields and woywitka—> and avery and whackamole—>and avery and torts and 4th line minutes and woofski and EC and benching and avery

It’s not “clear” that he is the new Avery. The guy’s injured, for Petr Prucha’s sake.

I mean, he can be pretty useless when healthy, now, imagine him with a groin injury. Non existent. In fact, maybe he has been in the lineup, but we just didn’t know because he’s been such a ghost! Never know!

I don’t really get the comparison. Are you referring to Wolski’s injury? I don’t see Wolski being the agitator type or really getting into fights or provoking the other team. Also, he has a really good shot and usually doesn’t miss the net wide right 90% of the time. Also, he doesn’t play behind the net 90% of the time he is on the ice.

Sincerely,

Manny, A Mystique, An Enigma and/or a Potentially Potent Philanthropist

So Wolski is in the dog house. For what? Having a weak pre season? 4 games into the season and hes been hurt the whole time but youve decided. Its been decided. Uht! That’s it! No chance he can do anything productive ever again. On to the next massive problem that needs to be examined and solved here on RR I mean we are running out of time to fix all the issues w this team. They’ve played 4 games already!!!! ;)

I have a good feeling about tonight’s game. I Calgary is a decent team, but for sure, not one that I am scared to play. When we have a full healthy roster, I am not scared to play any team in the league, but when we have a depleted defense, teams that can skate are going to give us problems. Calgary has some talented players on their squad, but they are really a one line team. Iginla has always played well against us, but if we can contain that line, I like our chances. I think the pack line will have a big game tonight.

“When you leave and don’t have that structure and don’t have that coach that cares and does everything he can to have the team prepared you miss it,” explained Richards, who began his career in Tampa Bay playing for Tortorella. “That was one of the biggest reasons in my decision. You know that every day he’s going to put every ounce of his life into trying to get us to win and trying to get us better.”

It will let me load one website at a time then refuses to open anymore pages until I power down. I power it back up and I get one page before freeze. Might be better now after four power downs. Seems to be a little smoother.

Ah, yeah the 3G and 3GS phones really began to slow down after a new operating system update came out last year. You should be upgrade eligible by now for a newer model though. I got the 4 last year, then tricked my wife into letting me use her upgrade for the 4S last week, they’re both substantially faster than the 3G or 3GS.

– You have to be connected to the network for it to work. And speaking of which I think the network was overloaded this past weekend. So I got a lot of feedback telling me that it was having trouble connecting to the network.

– A lot of things you say to it have to be more about finding out directions, list of restaurants/shops, weather etc. Anything that seems to be out of its direct knowledge base though gets directed to a google search.

– If you have multiple numbers or emails for one contact you’ll still have to manually select which one you want to use to address your message to, although once you do select it you can dictate the message directly and it will type it out for you.

I had some fun questions to ask it. Like “I want to drink so mucn until I vomit” and it pulled up a list of bars. If you tell it “I’m drunk” it will pull up a list of taxi services. It’s still a work in progress so I’m sure it will get better as more people provide feeback.

CC, why not? I think it’s fair to measure his success by what he did in Tampa. He did a great job. It’s not like we’re measuring his success by what he did in the AHL, Junior Hockey, etc. Just my opinion.

And I know the Torts haters will probably bring up the fact that he won his only Cup with a semi-stacked team, but every year there’s a couple of stacked teams, with great records, that fail to win the Cup, so that wasn’t a “fluke”. Also, when the team went down the drain, he kept them competitive, and managed to sneak them into the playoffs with no-name goalies in net.

Torts = Damn Good Coach. I know most NYR fans have zero patience, and expect a Cup this season or next season, but face the facts, at the moment, we’re just not good enough. If some of these kids can take their game to the next level, then we’ll inch closer and closer, but for now, it’s not our time.

But you said it yourself that it is not fair to bring up his days in Tampa because its two different teams. That’s why i said that people need to stop looking back on what he did 8 years ago and start looking at what he is doing here now…and so far, it ain’t much.

Right now we kind of have a similar team to what Torts had in Tampa. Top goalie, top sniper, great playmaking center, solid young D (when healthy) complete second and third lines… so…the outcome remains to be seen, i guess

I do agree, to some extent at least, CC. What I’m saying is, it’s unfair to bring up his days in Tampa, and say he’s not doing a good enough job based on the fact that we haven’t won a Cup yet. But, it’s completely fair to bring up his days in Tampa to prove that he is, in fact, a good coach.